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Prime Minister's Speech on the Occasion of the Day for the Struggle against anti-Semitism At The Knesset. |
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| 27/01/2004 |
Mr. Speaker,
Members of the Knesset,
Today, for the first time, we mark the day of the State of Israel's struggle against anti-Semitism. On the initiative of Minister Natan Sharansky and in accordance with the decision of the Ministerial Committee for Symbols and Protocol, we mark it today, January 27, the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, which is also the day on which the Holocaust and the battle against anti-Semitism is marked in Europe.
The objective of this special day is to raise the Israeli public's awareness of the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, express solidarity with world Jewry, which is faced daily with manifestations of this abominable phenomenon, and to express the State of Israel's commitment to struggle against anti-Semitism in all its forms.
Anti-Semitism is not a new phenomenon. The first echo of this malignant disease appeared in the Book of Esther in the words of Haman, enemy of the Jews, who wished to destroy, to slay and to exterminate all the Jews, from young to old.
From that day onwards, anti-Semitism continues to rise around the world. In all generations, anti-Semites concocted blood libels and twisted myths about international Jewish conspiracies, in addition to slanderous writings such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and horrific tales about a Zionist conspiracy to control the world.
Tragically enough, Jew-haters did not stop at incitement, but murdered and massacred women and men, elderly people and children, first by riots and pogroms, and ultimately by an attempt at genocide the worst in history the Holocaust.
The disaster which was inflicted on the entire world by Nazism not only on European Jewry proved how right the prophesier of the State, Benjamin Ze'ev Herzl was in saying: Anti-Semitism was a disaster to Judaism, but it was no less disastrous to civilized humanity in its entirety.
Indeed, anti-Semitism did not only target Jews. The barbaric attack on Jews opened the gates to racist madness, to contempt for human values, to a cult of power, and to the disregard of any moral principle leading to the world's drowning in rivers of blood and resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of people.
Members of the Knesset,
Statistics clearly show that in recent years the number of anti-Semitic incidents increased alarmingly, and reached a magnitude, which was unknown after the Holocaust. Every year hundreds of anti-Semitic incidents take place, and some even involve the use of weapons. In 2003, anti-Semitism reached new heights with the two murderous attacks on synagogues in Istanbul and the burning of schools and synagogues in France.
It is difficult to ignore the fact that the multiple attacks both verbal and physical against Jewish individuals and institutes stem from a coalition of radical Islamic groups and traditional anti-Semitic circles in Europe from the Right and Left. This coalition camouflages the classic anti-Semitism against the individual Jew under the banner of anti-Israeli viewpoints and calls for the denial of the fundamental rights of the Jewish people to a national state in its homeland and to self-defense.
It is extremely regrettable that in the 21st century radical Islamic elements continue to foment anti-Semitic demonization of Judaism and Jews. They spread abhorrent lies about Jewish values, broadcast programs, which intentionally distort Jewish history, and publish works, which depict Judaism in the classic anti-Semitic style of a Satanic cult aiming to rule the world. At international conferences, leaders such as the former President of Malaysia deliver speeches, which are clearly anti-Semitic, without generating the necessary protest and condemnation by the international community.
Europe must admit to itself and to the entire civilized world, that its anti-Semitic germ has resurfaced and is spreading alarmingly. It often appears in the shape of de-legitimization of the Jewish Collective the Jewish State while the hostility towards Israel and reservations regarding its policy serve as excuses for savage attacks by various elements, including in the academic and political spheres, and for violence against Jews simply because they are Jews.
If Europe does not unequivocally declare war on the anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist manifestations with which it is infected, this phenomenon will increase and become a problem not only to Jews but to the nations themselves.
The French Government has recently been making significant efforts to condemn the phenomenon of anti-Semitism. The President of France even uttered a few positive statements, such as causing injury to the Jews of France is an injury to France itself. It appears that France has finally realized that the campaign in which it must engage is a campaign for its image as a civilized nation, and that the war on anti-Semitism is only one facet of that campaign.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has also thought it right to denounce the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, and stated that criticism of Israel must not serve as a mask behind which anti-Semitism conceals its true face or as an excuse to attack Jews individually.
We would hope that these statements constitute the beginning of a vigorous international effort to prevent the spread of the plague of anti-Semitism. Israel for its part will do all it can so that this effort will bear fruit.
The countries of the continent must employ all legal means to initiate suitable legislation to combat this affliction. Enlightened Europe must take all necessary steps to ensure that its Jewish citizens will not be under any threat.
Intense educational activity must be undertaken to make it clear that the anti-Semitic disease does not only endanger Jews, but also the democratic regime in any country to which it spreads and that it constitutes a threat to the continued existence of that country. In this battle against anti-Semitism, the world countries, non-governmental bodies and Jewish and non-Jewish organizations must cooperate.
Only by uniting forces can we expose the true face of this phenomenon, curb and neutralize this violent brand of the new anti-Semitism, and eradicate it.
Members of the Knesset,
Until the mid 20th century, anti-Semitism had a significant effect on the course of Jewish history. It set in motion the waves of migration of Jews in Europe, and later also brought about their immigration to the United States and to America in general. Anti-Semitism alarmingly diminished the number of Jews around the world, but also resulted in Judaism learning throughout its history to confront more powerful forces.
The establishment of the State of Israel fundamentally altered the course of Jewish history, and today anti-Semitism no longer has the power to determine the fate of the Jewish people. It is interesting to note the pictures from World War II which were recently published. These aerial photos of the British Air Force which clearly show the long queues of Jews being led to the crematoria at Auschwitz are a chilling reminder of what we have long known. The leaders of the enlightened world who were at war with the Nazi beast, knew and stood silent.
The State of Israel is our only guarantee that the Jews will be able to defend themselves by themselves, and on this we will never compromise.
We will never return to a situation in which the predicament of a Jew is worse than that of an animal, as described in Uri Zvi Greenberg's poem The Beautiful Jews and the Beast:
Happy are you beast! Says the poet who erred.
You have never been knowingly led to the scaffold as a Jew.
Your killers have never ordered you to, with your own hands,
Dig your own grave.
You have never been pushed into crematoria with your mother and your father and your offspring,
Happy are you beast, for you had burrows and forests to hide in
And found a corner for shelter in homes.
This was not so for the Jews.
We will ensure that every Jew will always find a safe haven here. We will continue to cooperate with governments and Jewish and international bodies, in order to root out anti-Semitic manifestations anywhere in the world. We pledge that the liberation day of the Auschwitz death camp will turn into a day of active war against everything Auschwitz represented: hatred, racism, anti-Semitism and barbarism, and will be an international day for the protection of man's dignity and freedom.
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